Sarah's first start in lifeCampbell, Adelaide M. G.
General
Sarah's first start in life
Campbell, Adelaide M. G.
Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Household employees -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
Mrs. Sinclair had given the footman a letter to the manager of a flax
mill, and they thought they would go there after they had finished their
meal. The manager sent his foreman to show them over the mill, and Sarah
had as much as she could do to hear his explanation of the various
processes used for spinning flax. The noise was terrible, and quite
deafened Sarah, who could not help feeling very thankful that she was
not one of the poor factory girls, whose pallid faces predicted an early
death. She said something about this to Peggy, who told her that they
seldom lived long, as the air being full of dust atoms, which they
inhaled all day, gradually affected their lungs. Sarah came away feeling
very sad, but she had not much time to think, as she was again hurried
on to some new sight.
They spent a very happy day, and ended up with a good tea of scones,
oat-cake, bread and butter and jam.
At the station they still had half an hour to wait for the train, so
they sat down on one of the benches and talked. Suddenly Sarah uttered a
half cry, but on seeing Peggy looking at her, she quickly gained her
composure. Near a train which had just arrived, stood two girls and a
man. The man was very like Dick, and as he half turned round, Sarah saw
that it was really he. One of the girls, who was very pretty, was
talking to him with her hand on his arm, and Sarah thought he looked at
her very affectionately. They chatted and laughed for some little time
till the guard came round for the tickets, then the pretty girl, to
Sarah's horror, gave Dick a kiss which he seemed fully to expect, and
she jumped into the train, waving her handkerchief repeatedly to him.
Dick and his companion now left the station, and, passing close to
Sarah, she heard her say, "My! how fond you two are of each other, she
certainly is very pretty, just your style." Sarah meanwhile was choking
with rage, hardly believing her ears, and feeling beside herself with
jealousy.
In a few minutes she asked Peggy to take a turn outside the station, as
they still had ten minutes before their train left. Sarah did not feel
inclined to talk, and Peggy, being Irish, was only too glad to use this
opportunity of letting her tongue run on. After they had gone some
little distance they retraced their steps, when Sarah suddenly saw Dick
and his friend, who had left the station by another way, coming towards
them. He saw her some distance off, and quickened his steps, when, to
his astonishment, Sarah blankly looked at him, and, half bowing, passed
over to the other side of the road. Dick was dumb with surprise, and
would have followed her, but seeing that she was determined to avoid
him, he changed his mind.
Now, Dick had no idea that Sarah had been in the station, and could not
imagine what had happened, but he expected some letter of explanation,
and thought he would wait.
Sarah meanwhile had taken a corner seat in the train, and was tormenting
herself with all sorts of uncomfortable thoughts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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